Wednesday, 26 July 2017

Today, I am delighted to have,
Carol Warham sitting round my pool talking about her passion for writing and
her book, Resolution.

Do help yourself to a glass of something well chilled and when you are comfortable tell us all about yourself….

Thank you Pauline, here I go....

Carol Warham’s passion for
writing has been a life-long affair.

From making comics for her
childhood dolls and friends she progressed to training as a journalist and writing
short stories and articles in adulthood.

Carol has had a varied
career, while bringing up her family of two daughters. It included working for
the ‘taxman’; running convenience stores and a lawncare business with her
husband; and eventually a recruitment company. During this time she managed to
find the time to be a Guide Guider and a magistrate.

She has lived in the same
Yorkshire village for over thirty years now, where she runs a small but
enthusiastic writing group and is a member of the library reading group and the
local W.I. In recent years she has been a
judge for the RoNa Awards for the Romantic Novelist Association and for the
short story section of the HysteriaUk

Five years ago she decided to
have a go at writing a novel. The idea came from visiting the town of
Celebration in Florida. A ‘what if’ moment occurred. What if the town was
called ‘Resolution’ and the plot happened around New Year. Initially the story was set in the U.S but
Carol soon realised and took advice it simply wasn’t right. So, it was moved to a location close to her
home and the town became Yeardon. However the book title remained the same to
tie in with the New Year theme.

The first draft was written
five years ago and put away. Over the next two years it was tweaked and
re-written in parts. It was really only in the last twelve months, with the mentoring
of a good friend, author Paula Martin, that the novel was edited and polished
to be good enough to consider submission to publishers.

She was delighted when three
out of four replied they would be interested in the book. Carol settled on the
Irish independent company of Tirgearr Publishing. Through Tirgearr,
‘Resolutions’ (yes, it gained an extra ‘s’) will be published on August 9th.

It
tells the story of Carly Mitchell who returns to the small town of Yeardon in
Yorkshire almost a year after running away on her wedding day. Now she wants to
try to make amends with Steve, his family, and the townspeople who had prepared
a huge party to celebrate her New Year’s Eve wedding.

She
intends to stay only for a few days at the Resolution Hotel, owned by Steve’s
parents. However, her plans change when Steve’s father is taken ill, and she
feels obliged to step in and help with running the hotel. This also means
having to deal with Steve’s antagonism since he has never forgiven her for
humiliating him.

A
further complication comes in the form of Ben Thornton, the local doctor, to
whom Carly feels an immediate attraction. They enjoy getting to know each other
and falling in love, until a famous model from Ben’s past arrives in the town,
and stays at the hotel.

Steve
attempts to get his revenge on Carly by driving a wedge between her and Ben,
and by threatening to reveal what he knows about Ben’s troubled past unless
Carly leaves town.

The
resolution lies in Carly’s hands as she struggles between wanting to flee from
the town again and wanting to stay with the man she has grown to love.

Here
is a little taster for you…

CHAPTER
ONE

The
large, dimly lit sign appeared momentarily through the driving rain.

YEARDON

WELCOME
TO OUR TOWN

PLEASE
DRIVE CAREFULLY

WE
HOPE YOU ENJOY YOUR STAY

Carly
Mitchell pulled her car over to the grass verge at the side of the road.
Indecision gripped her as her heart hammered against her ribs. Did she drive on
into the town, back to the place where she believed she was hated, or should
she drive straight through and not stop?

Darkness
shrouded the long road across the bleak moors. A thick swirling mist was broken
only by the beam of her car’s headlamps. The windscreen wipers were the only
thing which moved, as if bored, by the effort of clearing the rain. She stared
at the sign until the glare of oncoming headlights made her blink and bite her
lip. This is it, her decision, her choice. Could she do this? She nodded to
herself. She knew she could now. Twelve months ago she’d have been in pieces at
the thought of what she intended to do, but not now. She had changed, grown-up,
learned to stand on her own two feet. The old Carly Mitchell wouldn’t have
dared make any decision, like this, for fear of upsetting someone. But her life
had changed and for the better, and so had she.

Taking
a deep breath, she slowed down her heart beat and controlled her shaking hands.
A few minutes to recover her equilibrium were all she needed. Then she would
drive into the town. She would do what she had come to do and leave. After that
people could say and think what they wanted. She wouldn’t care.

It
was past midnight when she drove into the quiet town. The wet road glistened
under the street lights. Driving down the empty streets of the old Yorkshire
mill town, her stomach churned. How well she knew all of these buildings.

A large Victorian mill loomed up before her.
The grey stone walls and rows of neat windows were highlighted by the street
lamps. It almost resembled a barricade, another warning. Slowing down to look
at the building, she smiled at her own foolishness. You’d never know inside
were some charming tourist and gift shops and the little tea shop. She drove
over a stone bridge where the road crossed a small river. In the dark she could
hear the water as it babbled and gurgled over the boulders that lined its path.

Would
she ever be able to walk through this town and into the shops again and receive
a warm welcome? What sort of greeting would anyone give her now? What sort of
greeting did she deserve? Yeardon had been a wonderful place to grow up. It was
one of those towns where you knew everyone and they knew you.

Her
mind a maelstrom of anxiety, she tightened her grip on the steering wheel. Who
would have believed anyone’s hands could shake so much?

On
the far side of the town she turned into a drive, which led down a short,
narrow lane to an hotel, a converted mill owner’s house. After finding a space
in the car park, she switched off the engine, but remained in the car for a few
minutes. Taking a deep breath she closed her eyes.

Sunday, 23 July 2017

We are heartbroken at having to say goodbye to our beautiful
little doggy, Poppy.

Poppy was a small cross terrier we brought home from the
rescue centre over ten years ago. We were told she was around five and half
when she joined our family, vets never questioned this, but there were thoughts
she might have been older. It didn’t matter to us, I fell in love with her the
moment I saw her.

She was a feisty doggy, an alpha female, who let all the
dogs in the neighbourhood know she was the boss. Years later when we took
another rescue dog, Poppy made sure he knew she was in charge.

From the moment Barney
joined our family he loved her and worshiped her. He was always happy when she
told him off as he would run around the house going back for more attention from Poppy.

Having this little doggy in our lives made the sun shine on
the darkest of days. She made us smile and brought so much joy. She loved to
walk and never worried how far we went, we used to joke to people who would
stop and want to pat her, that she was a Great Dane when we got her! She was
more than a pet she was a member of our family. And now, our family has a loved
one missing. Barney looks for her and we can’t tell him she’s not here. Losing
her has left a huge hole in our hearts, we miss her beyond words, but we know
she is now at peace.

The hardest thing is not losing someone you love, it is having
to live without them for the rest of your life.

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